Notes

Historical Background

Deinonychus is an extinct genus of dinosaur. It lived during the early Cretaceous period, 110-100 mya. It was a raptor which had sickle-shaped talons on its second toe, which it used to kick at its prey. It resided in North America and was larger than the Velociraptor, which resided in Eurasia). It was first described in 1969 (the bones were discovered in Montana in 1964). Deinonychus means “terrible claw”. The raptors depicted in the 1993 blockbuster film Jurassic Park were actually Deinonychus based on various characteristics, despite the film stating they were Velociraptor (though the Utahraptor, discovered in 1993, fits the fictional raptors more closely, but it was not known at the time of the film’s release).